Lotawana Lake
Jackson County, MissouriView mapDirections
Missouri DNR publishes the water-quality measurements for Lotawana Lake. Here is what has been measured.
- Eutrophic
- 53 ft max depth
Lotawana Lake in Jackson County, Missouri has water-quality measurements published by Missouri DNR, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 4.6 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 31 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 12.4 µg/L.
Lotawana Lake is a productive, nutrient-rich eutrophic lake in Jackson County, Missouri with an estimated average depth of about 53 feet. Overall water quality is improving over recent sampling years. Compared to the 22 other monitored lakes in Jackson County, Lotawana Lake ranks #2 for water quality.
Source: EPA Water Quality Portal sampling records, Missouri DNR, last sampled 2022-08-30. Methodology: how these readings are compared.
Swimming conditions
Readings onlyLow algae
Based on clarity and algae readings from past sampling — there is no live water temperature and a current cyanobacteria reading for this lake. Check your state or county health department before you swim.
Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
Whether Lotawana Lake is safe to swim in today is a call for the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and the county health department, who post current advisories. LakeQuality does not issue swimming clearances.
Water quality measurements for Lotawana Lake
These are the measurements Missouri DNR publishes for Lotawana Lake, shown as reported. The condition class beside each reading is the EPA National Lakes Assessment class for this lake’s ecoregion.
Murky, only visible to about 4.6 ft. Phosphorus 31 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a 12.4 µg/L. TSI 55.
| Measure | Reading | Where it sits |
|---|---|---|
| Water clarity (Secchi depth) | 4.6ft | Measured, not scored How deep a black-and-white disk stays visible from the surface. Higher is clearer. |
| Total phosphorus | 31µg/L | Good GoodFairPoor |
| Chlorophyll-a (algae) | 12.4µg/L | Good GoodFairPoor |
| Trophic state (TSI)Carlson's 0–100 index of how much algae a lake can support, from clarity, phosphorus and chlorophyll-a. | 55 | Eutrophic OligotrophicMesotrophicEutrophicHypereutrophic |
High nutrients, frequent algae, reduced clarity
Ask about Lotawana Lake
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Lake Details
Max depth
~53 ft est.
Depth marked “est.” is a modeled maximum from GLOBathy (Khazaei et al. 2022, CC0), not a measured survey. Missouri has not published bathymetry for Lotawana Lake.
Lake Size & Watershed
Watershed (drainage) area
13 sq mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Surface area
343 acres
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Shoreline
6.6 mi
HydroLAKES / HydroSHEDS
Elevation
889 ft
Size, shoreline, and watershed area from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS). Mean depth here is modelled, not surveyed — HydroLAKES v1.0 estimates lake depth from surrounding terrain rather than from soundings. Treat it as an approximation, and prefer a state bathymetric survey where one exists.
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Fishing Lotawana Lake
Water quality readings over time
3 seasons of samples on record (2020–2022). Calling a direction takes at least 4 years of the same measurement.
Water clarity
Improving3 years
Phosphorus
Improving-3.9 µg/L/yr3 years
Chlorophyll-a
Improving-2.6 µg/L/yr3 years
Nearby Lakes in Jackson County
Frequently asked questions about Lotawana Lake
Where is Lotawana Lake?
- Lotawana Lake is a lake in Jackson County, Missouri. Its water-quality measurements are published by Missouri DNR and shown on this page as reported.
What is the water quality of Lotawana Lake?
- Lotawana Lake in Jackson County, Missouri has water-quality measurements published by Missouri DNR, shown here as reported. Water clarity: 4.6 ft visibility. Phosphorus: 31 µg/L. Chlorophyll-a (algae): 12.4 µg/L.
Is Lotawana Lake safe to swim in?
- Nutrient and algae readings are not a swimming clearance. Check local advisories before you swim.
How deep is Lotawana Lake?
- No published bathymetric survey covers Lotawana Lake, so its depth has not been measured. The HydroLAKES global model estimates an average depth of about 53 feet, but that is a modelled estimate derived from surrounding terrain rather than a measurement on the water, so treat it as approximate.
Explore Lotawana Lake across LakeQuality
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Where this data comes from
63 measurements from 1 monitoring station, 2020–2022. Retrieved from the EPA Water Quality Portal on 2026-08-02.
Collected and reported by
- Univ. of Missouri, Columbia
UMC63 samples · 2020–2022
Analytical methods
- Depth, Secchi disk in meters
- 4500 P E ~ Phosphorus in Water by Colorimetry- Ascorbic Acid Method
- 445.0 ~ EPA; Chlorophyll and Pheophytin in Algae by Fluorescence
Monitoring station identifiers (1)
EPA condition classes from the National Lakes Assessment (EPA 841-R-24-006, Table 6-3), applied by ecoregion. See where the data comes from and data sources.
Other records on this page
Lake size & watershed from HydroLAKES (HydroSHEDS)